Sheikh, a skiddy left-arm pace bowler, joined the Derbyshire Academy in 2007 and followed fellow Academy graduates Jake Needham, Dan Redfern and Paul Borrington in signing a professional contract at the end of the 2008 season.

He made headlines in 2010 by dismissing Australian Test openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich when the tourists visited Derby for a two-day warm-up match. He made his Championship debut the same season against Gloucestershire, taking five wickets in the match, and opened the bowling for England in an Under-19 Test against Sri Lanka.

However, he was unable to force his way into the senior Derbyshire side in any cricket in 2011 and left at the end of the season, since which time he has had trials for Leicestershire and Worcestershire.ESPNcricinfo staff